My semester is finally over. I submitted my last grades today. And within 2 hours I got my first email from a student wanting to know why she got one grade instead of another. I hate that. I don't just hand out grades. I average together their scores on everything and get a number. Then a grading scale tells me what letter that number corresponds to. Normally, it's someone who failed to realize that missing 10+ classes would affect his/her grade. But not this time, no. Because this particular school uses a plus/minus grading scale. So this one was wondering why she got an A- instead of an A. (The top of the scale starts with A, so there's no A+. It just goes: A, A-, B+, B, B-, etc. on down to the F).
In some respects, I like the plus/minus scale. But in others, I hate it. Personally, I think that if we had used it at the college I attended, I would have hated it. I don't like the fact that you could technically earn all A's during your college career, but not have a 4.0, because an A- earns you a 3.7 instead (or something like that). So in some respects, yes, I get this student's frustration because maybe she was trying to make it through college with a 4.0. But on the other hand, why passive-aggresively email me and suggest that somehow, I miscalculated or incorrectly entered it? ("I was wondering if perhaps there was a mistake in my grade, and was wondering why I got an A- instead of an A.) Yeah, there was a mistake in the grade: You got a B on one paper. Grr.
I'm not really mad at the student. I'm mad at the grading scale. And life in general because I cannot ever seem to get through a single semester when I don't have a someone crying foul over a grade that he/she earned.
This is one of the many reasons I have determined this semester that although I do like teaching, it's not what I want to do forever. So, Library Science it is. I'll just keep trying stuff until something fits. Sooner or later, right? I guess when all is said and done, I can always consider a career in retail. [please note the sarcasm]
YAY Retail!!!!! Where lack of automatic can openers and a shortage of size XXXL is your fault!!!
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